Berry Recruitment sees pre-tax profit rise by 82%

The consultancy with 26 branches across the country also recorded a significant rise in turnover to more than &pound42m.

Its specialist sectors include those of & lsquo;office’, & lsquo;industrial’, & lsquo;construction’ and & lsquo;catering’ – all good indicators of the wider economy.

Berry’s figures relate to the year ending December 31, 2013, and show the company is well placed to continue its growth through 2014, in which it hopes to increase turnover to more than &pound50m.

Recently it was named as one of the UK’s fastest growing, multi-sector recruitment businesses and in a London Stock Exchange study was named as one of the “1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain.”

The company, which has its headquarters in St Albans, Herts, has achieved its growth organically and through some acquisition.

It has more than doubled its turnover in just three years and now employs over 150 people, having taken on a further 14 staff last year.

The figures showed its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) increased by over 50 per cent to &pound1.5m, pre-tax profit rose to &pound1.01m from &pound558,000 the year before and shareholders’ funds rose from &pound1.3m to &pound2.3m.

Other sectors it is active in include & lsquo;technical/IT’, & lsquo;driving’, & lsquo;rail’ and & lsquo;care’.

Chairman Tony Berry said, “We are extremely pleased with the development of the business through 2013.

“Our growth has been largely organic and we aim to supplement it later this year with targeted acquisitions.

“The hard work put in by our staff during the tough years of the recession has laid a solid foundation that we are now building on.

“We are aiming to expand our reach in professional and managerial level roles, while continuing to grow our core, existing business.

“With the economy looking up we are seeing growth in the number of jobs, both permanent and temporary, in all sectors right across the country.

“In fact we are on course to increase our revenue from permanent placements by 30 per cent in 2014.”

The increased number of jobs recorded by Berry Recruitment backs up a recent KPMG/REC report that shows vacancy levels continue to grow.

It further notes that starting salaries are at their highest for seven years due to strong demand and competition for scarce candidates.

The report for April said, “Strong growth was signalled in both permanent and temporary vacancies.”